Method of making signs



Feb. 22, 1938. T. WALDO, JR 2,109,000

METHOD OF MAKING SIGNS Filed March 5, 1956 4 Elia:-

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Patented Feb. 22, 1938 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING SIGNS Theron L. Waldo, Jr., Bath, N. Y. Application March 3,1936, Serial No. 66,899

' 1 Claim. (01. 41 s9 I This invention relates to an improved sign and method of making the same, and one object of the invention is to provide a sign which when finished will have the appearance of being formed from a board which has been exposed to the weather and become partially disintegrated except the portion forming the letters orother characters which it is desired to provide upon the sign.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sign which will be very attractive in appearance and while light in weight will be strong and durable and not liable to further deterioration when exposed to the weather.

Another object of the invention is to so form the sign that it may be very easily and quickly made by a sand-blasting operation which cuts away soft portions of the grain of a board to a desired depth except covered portions which are to form the letters or other characters and produces a sign in which the letters or characters will be set off in an attractive manner by the sandblasted background.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved method of making a sign which may be very easily carried out without the use of expensive machinery and special training calling for high price labor.

The invention is illustrated in the accompany- 80 ing drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of the improved sign, a

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken longitudinal- 1y through the sign upon the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a board coated with shellac and waxed and ready to have a stencil applied to it. I

Figure 5 is a view showing the stencil applied 'to the board.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a view showing portions of the stencil sheet removed and other portions of the sheet forming letters remaining upon the board.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a view showing the sign immersed in a mixture of varnish stain and banana oil after sand-blasting.

This improved sign is formed from a plank I which is cut the correct length and width and may be of any thickness desired. Surfaces of the plank are smoothed by planing and opposed side of the final steps in making the sign.

faces of the plank are then coated with shellac, as shown at 2, a number of coats of shellac, which are preferably fromthree to five coats, being successively'applied and each coat preferably gone over with fine grained sand paper'after it has dried so that the next coat will adhere properly to the previously applied coat of shellac. The final coat when dried must have a very smooth glass-like finish and if trouble is experienced in producing a smooth and glass-like finish for the last coat, a thin coating of wax 3 may be applied to it. The shellac not only'provides a smooth surface for the plank but is absorbed by the wood from which the plank is made and servesto strengthen soft grain of the wood and prevent this soft grain from being pulled up when a stencil is removed from the'plank as one Shellac has high tensilestrcngth and dries very quickly.

After the final coat of shellac and wax has dried to produce a smooth glass-like surface for the plank, it is washed with naphtha gasoline to remove dust and other foreign matter. A sheet of rubber-like material used for making stencils is then applied to the prepared surface of' the plank and by referring to Figure 5 it will be seen that this sheet of. stenciling material, which is indicated by the numeral 4, is of less length and width than the 'plank. It will be understood, however, that if necessary the sheet of stencil material may correspond to the dimensions of the plank and that its dimensions will be governed according to the number and location of the letters or other characters which it is desired to have appear upon the finished sign. The sheet of stenciling material when about to be used first has the fabric backing removed from it and this surface of the stenciling sheet is pressed tightly against the prepared surface of the plank. The stenciling sheet is applied before the naphtha gasoline has dried and, therefore, the rear surface of the rubber-like material from which the stenciling sheet is formed will be softened slightly and cause the stenciling sheet to adhere very tightly to the plank. Since the surface of the plank to which the stenciling sheet is applied is smooth and highly polished, all portions of the stenciling sheet will adhere to it and formation of air bubbles between the plank and the stenciling sheet which would interfere with proper ad- .tration, willform the words "Sign Studio.

sheet out along the bordering lines so that the stenciling sheet, with the exception of the outlined letters or characters, may be removed and discarded. This step of the process is illustrated in Figure 7 and referring to this figure it will be seen that the portions 5 of the stenciling sheet which remain adhering to the plank conform to the shape or outline of the letters or characters to appear upon the sign and, in the present illus- In the preferred embodiment of the invention, both side faces of the plank will be treated with shellac and waxed and the stencil sheet then applied to each prepared surface and cut out to form letters, but, if so desired, only one surface of the plank may be treated and a single stenciling sheet applied.

After the stenciling sheet has been applied and the stenciling sheet cut and surplus portions thereof removed, as shown in Figure 7, the plank with the letters or other characters of stenciling material adhering to it is subjected to the action of a sandbiast operating under a pressure of approximately pounds. The sand which strikes the letters of the elastic stenciling material rebounds without cutting through this material, but the sand which strikes other portions of the plank cuts through the wax and shellac and into the wood from which the sign is made. The soft layers of grain will be out faster than the layers of hard grain and, therefore, the layers of hard grain, which are indicated by the numeral 6, will project outwardly from the layers of soft grain, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and-3 and thus produce a weather-beaten appearance. After the sand? blasting has been completed, the plank with the stencil letters still adhering thereto is immersed in a tank I filled with a mixture of varnish stain and banana oil. This mixture, which is indicated by the numeral 8, is of such a depth that the entire plank may be immersed therein and should consist of one-third banana oil and two-thirds varnish stain. The varnish stain and banana oil is absorbed by the wood from which the sign is formed thus acting. as a preservative for the wood and also imparting a desired color to the sign, the color being preferably dark in order to add to the impression thatthe sign is formed of weather-beaten wood. Attention is further called to the fact that the banana oil penetrates the letters of the stenciling material from the outer faces and side edges thereof and softens them so that when the sign is removed from the oil bath they may be easily removed. In case portions of the stenciling material should still adhere to the wood, they may be easily washed oil with a rag or the like which has been dipped in banana oil. In view of the fact that the letters of stenciling material remain in place during the time the sign is immersed in the bath of oiland varnish stain, the portions of the plank covered by the stenciling material will retain the original shade and the letters, which are indicated by the numeral 9, will stand out quite distinctly'from the remainder of the sign, which is indicated in general by the numeral III. A coating of lacquer may then be applied to the sign either by dipping it in a tank filled with lacquer or by means of a brush or air gun. In case-it is desired to have the letters stand out more clearly from the dark background, they may be painted a desired color. This sign is very attractive in appearance and may be easily read as the letters standout very distinctly against the dark background which is apparently weather-beaten wood. It should also be noted that as a large portion of the soft grain has been removed by the sand blasting, the weight of the sign will be greatly reduced and it may be suspended from a light-weight support. As a large part of the soft grain has been removed and the coating of varnish stain and banana oil penetrates deeply into the hard grain and remaining portion of the soft grain, this sign will stand exposure to weather as an out:

door sign without being and the like. I

While the sign illustrated in the drawing has alternating layers of soft grain and hard grain extending perpendicular to the faces of the damaged by rain, snow plank which are to be sand blasted and this arash. It will also be understood that any kind of wood may be used and that the choice of grain and the direction in which it runs is unrestricted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: v

.The method of forming a sign consisting of cutting a plank a predetermined length and width and smoothing faces of the plank, applying successive coats of shellac to the plank to provide smooth and highly polished surfaces for the plank and impart toughness to soft grain of the plank, washing the shellacked faces of the plank with naphtha gasoline to remove foreign matter, applying a sheet of stenciling material to a shellacked face of the plank before the gasoline has dried and thus soften the face of the stenciling sheet confronting the shellacked surface of the plank and cause the stenciling sheet to stick closely to the plank, outlining characters upon 'the outer face of the sheet of stenciling material and cutting through the stenciling material along outlines of the characters and removing surplus portions of the stenciling material, subjecting the plank to a sand-blast whereby portions of the plank except those covered by the stenciling material will have soft grain removed therefrom, applying a mixture of varnish stain and banana oil to the sand-blasted plank whereby the mixture of oil and varnish penetrates sandblasted portions of the plank to fill pores of the wood and softens the stenciling material, removing the stenciling material, and coating the plank with lacquer.

THERON L. WALDO, JR. 

